Report: Softbank to buy 70% of Sprint

Japanese mobile-phone company Softbank has agreed to buy 70 percent of Sprint Nextel Corp. for $20 billion, according to a news report.

The deal is expected to be announced today, according to CNBC’s website, which cited anonymous sources “close to the situation.”

The transaction could make Sprint, the third-largest U.S. mobile-phone company, a tougher competitor against its bigger rivals, Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Sprint has 56 million subscribers, about half the amount of Verizon Wireless, the leading U.S. mobile-phone company.

Corrosion linked to Calif. refinery fire

SAN FRANCISCO

Corrosion that went unchecked — the suspected cause of a fire at Chevron Corp.’s Richmond refinery in August — has been linked to a fire at the plant in October 2011, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

According to state inspection documents obtained by The Chronicle, a state Division of Occupational Safety and Health inspector who investigated the smaller 2011 fire documented allegations from two workers of corrosion at the refinery.

The 2011 fire took place during a scheduled maintenance shutdown and was extinguished quickly.